Register Editorial: Iowa needs to talk about juvenile crime stats

Jun. 11, 2013

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How does school discipline impact students? The CJJP addressed disciplinary measures in Des Moines Schools. The district has reduced the maximum of five days for out-of-school suspensions to three days. That demonstrates “a commitment to maintain students in the school environment as much as possible,” according to the division’s report. The district is also moving away from giving students out-of-school suspensions in response to absences. However more information is needed on how discipline affects students. The report asks: Are students who are suspended or expelled from school being arrested in the community? How many students are removed from school and never have a problem again and how many have multiple removals? To read previous editorials related to juveniles, visit DesMoinesRegister.com/juvenilejustice

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A relatively unknown government office has issued a report that needs to be analyzed and discussed by community leaders in Iowa.

The Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning is located in the Iowa Department of Human Rights. Its responsibilities include collecting and analyzing data related to criminal justice. That is crucial in a nation where “getting tough” on crime is more about popular politics than smart policy and where justice may not always be blind.

The Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning said in a report to Polk County officials, “Minority youth are overrepresented, in Iowa and nationally, at a variety of juvenile justice system decision-making points.”

The information should help leaders understand what is currently happening in the justice system for juveniles and inform Iowa’s policy decisions going forward. The report grew out of discussions that were held and data that were analyzed relating to young offenders. According to the report, between 2008 and 2012 in Polk County:

• Caucasian youth detained for a simple misdemeanor offenses increased 3 percent, while the percentage of African-American youth detained for the same category of offenses increased more than 70 percent.

• Between 2009 and 2010, the number of petitions filed by county prosecutors against Caucasian and African-American youth declined. The following year, filings spiked more than 80 percent for white teens and 112 percent for black teens. “Polk County has experienced noteworthy increases in petition filings” on juveniles, according to the report.

State researchers note this increase affects government. More important, it affects teens who may find themselves mired in a legal world they don’t understand and saddled with a criminal record that may follow them into adulthood.

The report also documented concerns from stakeholders about placing sworn police officers in schools.

The presence of so-called school resource officers “has led to youth being arrested for disruptive rather than dangerous behavior,” said one participant. The officers “are typically accountable first to the police department and then to the school, which might pay part of an SRO’s salary or administrative costs. Nonetheless, a handbook for recruiting and retaining SROs says that an SRO can overrule a school administrator that wants to prevent the arrest of a student.”

It’s commonly accepted that teens are not simply “little adults.” Government must ensure youth do not unnecessarily enter the juvenile justice system in the first place. If they do, the primary goals should be fair treatment and opportunities to get them on track for a better future.

The first step to making progress is understanding how youth are being handled now. The recent report from Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning contributes to that understanding.